Lottery — A process that assigns a ranked order to eligible households. It determines the order in which households are considered for a housing opportunity, not who is awarded one.
Entry - A participation record in the lottery. In weighted lotteries, a household may have multiple entries.
Rank - The position assigned to a household after the lottery is run. Lower ranks (e.g. 1, 2, 3) are invited first.
Standard Lotteries
- Every eligible household receives one entry
- All entries have an equal chance of being ranked first
- Ideal when there are no program preferences or priority groups
Weighted Lotteries
- Households may receive additional entries based on weighted criteria (e.g., local employment, program tenure, household size)
- Each entry is assigned a separate random rank
- The household's best-ranked entry determines their lottery position
- If a weighted criterion is later found invalid during application review, that entry is removed and the next-best entry is used—a soft no approach that avoids disqualification
Lottery Screening Campaign — A Salesforce campaign configured as a lottery. The Campaign controls criteria and the entry window for the lottery screening form.
Lottery Screening Form — The form a household submits to enter a lottery. It confirms eligibility, collects weighted criteria responses, records attestation, and records which connected properties the household is interested in. All lottery participation begins with a submitted screening form.
Property — A housing opportunity connected to a lottery screening campaign. Each property has its own eligibility rules (e.g. household size, income limits). A lottery screening campaign can include multiple properties, and households select which ones they wish to be considered for.
Lottery Access — Controls who can submit a screening form. A lottery screening campaign can be set to publicly accessible or invitation only.
- Publicly accessible — The screening form is open to anyone with the link during the active entry window.
- Invitation only — The screening form is accessible only through a direct email invitation. Households must be added to the campaign before the entry window opens.
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